Pedestrian alert system and method for a vehicle

Abstract

A pedestrian alert system and method that gather vehicle route information from a host vehicle and pedestrian route information from mobile device(s) associated with one or more nearby pedestrian(s) and, in certain scenarios, alert the driver of the host vehicle to the presence of the pedestrian(s). The system may include a vehicle electronic module with a data storage unit, an electronic control unit, one or more application(s) and a communications unit, along with a navigation control module and a user interface.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pedestrian alert system for a host vehicle, comprising:
 a vehicle electronic module;   a navigation control module connected to the vehicle electronic module; and
 a user interface connected to the vehicle electronic module, wherein the vehicle electronic module is configured to:
 gather vehicle route information from the navigation control module where the vehicle route information includes at least one piece of data selected from the group consisting of: position data, velocity data or navigation data related to the host vehicle, 
 gather pedestrian route information from a mobile device associated with at least one nearby pedestrian where the pedestrian route information includes at least one piece of data selected from the group consisting of: position data, velocity data or navigation data related to the nearby pedestrian, 
 use both the vehicle route information and the pedestrian route information to determine a most relevant pedestrian, 
 determine that the host vehicle is in an appropriate state to receive an alert before initiating the alert from the user interface to the driver of the host vehicle, wherein the host vehicle being in an appropriate state is determined as a function of one or more of a host vehicle speed being below a threshold speed, a type of road that the host vehicle is located on, and a state of vehicles near the host vehicle, and 
 initiate the alert from the user interface to a driver of the host vehicle that notifies the driver of the most relevant pedestrian when it is determined that the host vehicle is in an appropriate state. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The pedestrian alert system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle electronic module is a body control module (BCM). 
     
     
         3 . The pedestrian alert system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle route information includes position data in the form of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that indicate a current position of the host vehicle and velocity data that indicate a current speed and direction of travel of the host vehicle. 
     
     
         4 . The pedestrian alert system of  claim 1 , wherein the pedestrian route information includes position data in the form of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that indicate a current position of each nearby pedestrian. 
     
     
         5 . The pedestrian alert system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle electronic module is further configured to:
 compare a proximity between the most relevant pedestrian and the host vehicle to a threshold before initiating the alert from the user interface to the driver of the host vehicle, and   initiate the alert only when the proximity is within the threshold.   
     
     
         6 . The pedestrian alert system of  claim 1 , wherein
 a detected pedestrian having velocity data indicating a pedestrian velocity greater than a threshold is not considered to be a potential most relevant pedestrian.   
     
     
         7 . The pedestrian alert system of  claim 6  wherein the pedestrian velocity indicates that the detected pedestrian is moving, or within a threshold time has moved, at greater than a threshold speed. 
     
     
         8 . A pedestrian alert method for a host vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
 gathering vehicle route information with a vehicle electronic module, vehicle route information includes at least one piece of data selected from the group consisting of:   position data, velocity data or navigation data related to the host vehicle;   gathering pedestrian route information with the vehicle electronic module, pedestrian route information is gathered from a mobile device associated with at least one nearby pedestrian and includes at least one piece of data selected from the group consisting of: position data, velocity data or navigation data related to the nearby pedestrian;   determining a most relevant pedestrian with the vehicle electronic module, the most relevant pedestrian is determined using both the vehicle route information and the pedestrian route information, wherein a pedestrian having velocity data indicating a pedestrian speed greater than a threshold is not considered to be a potential most relevant pedestrian; and   alerting a driver of the host vehicle with a user interface, wherein the alert notifies the driver of the most relevant pedestrian.   
     
     
         9 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , wherein the gathering vehicle route information step further comprises gathering vehicle route information from a navigation control module, the vehicle route information includes position data in the form of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that indicate a current position of the host vehicle and velocity data that indicate a current speed and direction of travel of the host vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , wherein the gathering pedestrian route information step further comprises gathering pedestrian route information from the mobile device associated with each nearby pedestrian, the pedestrian route information includes position data in the form of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates that indicate a current position of each nearby pedestrian. 
     
     
         11 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , wherein the determining step further comprises determining the most relevant pedestrian by using a tiered-factor determination technique that uses both the vehicle route information and the pedestrian route information, the tiered-factor determination technique uses at least one tier based on a proximity between the nearby pedestrian and the host vehicle to narrow a field of potential pedestrian candidates. 
     
     
         12 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 11 , wherein the tiered-factor determination technique uses another tier based on a velocity of the nearby pedestrian to narrow the field of potential pedestrian candidates, wherein the nearby pedestrian is not a candidate for being the most relevant pedestrian when the velocity data for the nearby pedestrian indicates that the nearby pedestrian is moving, or within a threshold time has moved, at greater than a threshold speed. 
     
     
         13 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 11 , wherein the tiered-factor determination technique uses another tier based on a navigational path of the host vehicle and/or the nearby pedestrian to narrow the field of potential pedestrian candidates. 
     
     
         14 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , wherein the determining step further comprises determining the most relevant pedestrian by using a weighted-factor determination technique that uses both the vehicle route information and the pedestrian route information, the weighted-factor determination technique uses a proximity between the nearby pedestrian and the host vehicle as the most heavily weighted factor to choose between a plurality of potential pedestrian candidates. 
     
     
         15 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 14 , wherein the weighted-factor determination technique also uses a velocity of the nearby pedestrian to choose between the plurality of potential pedestrian candidates. 
     
     
         16 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 14 , wherein the weighted-factor determination technique also uses a navigational path of the host vehicle and/or the nearby pedestrian to choose between the plurality of potential pedestrian candidates. 
     
     
         17 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , wherein the alerting step further comprises alerting the driver of the host vehicle by sending a signal or command from the vehicle electronic module to the user interface that causes the user interface to visually and/or audibly notify the driver of the most relevant pedestrian. 
     
     
         18 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of:
 comparing a proximity between the most relevant pedestrian and the host vehicle to a threshold before performing the alerting step, and only performing the alerting step when the proximity is within the threshold.   
     
     
         19 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of:
 determining if the host vehicle is in an appropriate state to receive the alert before performing the alerting step, and only performing the alerting step when the host vehicle is in an appropriate state.   
     
     
         20 . The pedestrian alert method of  claim 19 , wherein determining if the host vehicle is in an appropriate state includes confirming that the host vehicle is stopped or is traveling less than a predetermined speed.